Box and carrying handle therefor



May 29, 1962 A. R. MEISENHEIMER BOX AND CARRYING HANDLE THEREFOR Filed Aug. 25, 1960 8 mm m w M R y m m A IHIHIHI my ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,036,704 BOX AND CARRYItNG HANDLE THEREFGR Anthony Rudy Meisenheimer, West Babylon, N.Y., assignor to The F. Sz M. Schaefer Brewing (10., Brooklyn, N.Y., a company of New York Filed Aug. 25, 1%0, Ser. No. 51,948

Claims. (Cl. 206-65) The present invention relates to a box, and more particularly a paperboard carton for holding goods packed in cans, and a carrying handle means therefor which is comprised of punch-type can openers for the cans in the carton.

The present invention is particularly applicable to cartons of beer or other liquids in cans.

Many types of carrying handles for such cartons have been proposed in the past, among which are handle straps which tear out of the paperboard panels forming the walls of the carton, hand grip apertures in the ends or top of the carton, and other similar types of hand grip means. Many of these have been satisfactory in practice.

However, it is very often desirable to have readily available for opening the cans in the carton a can opener of the punch type, such as is disclosed in US. Patent No. 1,996,550. It is often the custom of retailers of beer in cans to provide such can openers with a case of beer in cans.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrying handle means for use with a carton of goods packed in cans, which handle means comprises two punch-type can openers, which can openers are inserted through one wall of the carton and are engaged between cans in a row of cans. The ends of the can openers projecting out of the box are joined by a hand grip member. The weight of the cans bearing against the can openers inserted between the cans is sufiicient to prevent the can openers from being withdrawn when the entire carton filled with cans is lifted by an upward force on the hand grip member.

Thus, there is always included aspart of the carton of canned goods two can openers, which can openers comprise a handle for the carton and also provide means for opening the cans when they are removed from the carton.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a box or carton with a carrying handle means according to the present invention protruding therefrom;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view of the box of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view on an enlarged scale of a hand grip member for the handle of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an alternative form of hand grip member; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the manner of inserting the hand grip member of FIG. 4 through an aperture in the end of a can opener.

As seen in the figures, a box or carton 10 has a plurality of rows of cans 11 therein, the rows substantially filling the box 10, and the cylindrical walls of the cans 11 in the upper row being adjacent to the top wall 10a of the box. The box may be of ordinary corrugated cardboard, pasteboard or the like.

In the top wall 10a of the box 10 are provided two apertures 12, which apertures are spaced from each other in the direction in which the row of cans adjacent said wall extend and at a distance which is equal to a plurality 3,635,764 Patented May 29, 1962 Ice A carrying handle assembly 13 is provided, which com. prises a pair of punch-type can openers 14. Each of these can openers has a substantially fiat strip 15 of rigid material forming a handle for the can opener, said rigid strip of material having a pointed end 16 curved out of the plane of the fiat strip 15. The can opener handle 15 also has a can rim or bead engaging lug 17 struck up out of the fiat strip in the same direction as the point 16 is curved.

At the end opposite the pointed end, the can opener handle 15 has an aperture 18 therein. This end may also be curved out of the plane of the can opener handle 15 to the same side thereof as the pointed end 16 is curved, and it may have a crown engaging lug 19 struck up out of it.

The punch-type can openers 14 extend down into the box through the apertures 12 with the curved pointed ends 16 curved away from each other and curving under one of the cans 11 between which the can openers 14 pass. The apertured ends project out through the apertures 12 in the top 10a of the box.

A handle member 20 extends between the apertured ends of the can openers 14, and in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 said handle member comprises a rope 21 having knotted ends 22 extending through the apertures 18 in the ends of the can openers. Around the rope 21 is a hand grip member 23, through which the rope 22 passes.

Alternatively, the handle member may comprise a flexible strap 24 (FIG. 4) having a head 25 at each end thereof connected to the main hand grip member 26 by means of a narrow connecting portion 27. The size of the heads 25 are such that the heads can be inserted through the apertures 18 in the ends of the can openers 15 when the strap is held in one position, as in FIG. 5, and which will not be able to be withdrawn through the apertures 18 when the strap is in another position, preferably rotated relative to the said one position about the longitudinal axis of the strap 24, as shown in FIG. 6.

With the can openers in the position shown in FIG. 2, and the handle member extending between the apertured ends thereof, an upward force on the handle member will lift the entire box or carton of canned goods. The containing force exerted on the top row of cans by the end walls ltlb of the box holds the row of cans between the end walls and the top wall of the box 10. The cans 11 therefore cannot separate and the curved pointed end of the can opener 14 cannot be withdrawn from between the cans when the force on the can openers 14 is in the vertical direction. 7

However, with the handle member removed from between the apertured ends of the can openers, these ends can be moved toward the outer ends of the row of cans, the apertures 12 being sufficiently large for this purpose, so that the curved pointed ends can be worked through or from between the cans either to insert the can openers for assembling the handle assembly or removing the can openers when disassembling the handle assembly.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided a convenient carrying handle means for a box or carton of canned goods, which handle can be disassembled to provide two can openers for the cans in the box. The carrying handle is sturdy and dependable, yet is easily as sembled on the box and easily removed therefrom when the can openers are needed to open the cans.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a box for canned goods, a plurality of rows of cans in said box substantially filling said box, the sides of the cans in a row being adjacent to one wall of said box, said one wall having a pair of spaced apertures therein, said apertures being spaced from each other in the direction of said row of cans a distance equal to a plurality of can diameters, said apertures being opposite points in said row of cans between two cans, a pair of substantially flat strips of rigid material, each strip having at least one end thereof curved out of the plane of said strip and having an aperture in the other end, said strips extending through said apertures in said wall of said box and between two cans with the curved ends under a can in said row of cans and the curved ends curving away from each other, and a handle member having means on each end thereof detachably securing the ends of said handle member to the apertured ends of said flat strips.

2. In combination, a box for canned goods, a plurality of rows of cans in said box substantially filling said box, the sides of the cans in a row being adjacent to one wall of said box, said one wall having a pair of spaced apertures therein, said apertures being spaced from each other in the direction of said row of cans a distance equal to a plurality of can diameters, said apertures being opposite points in said row of cans between two cans, a pair of substantially flat punch type can openers each having one end thereof pointed and curved out of the plane of the can opener and having an aperture in the other end, said can openers extending through said apertures in said wall of said box and between two cans with the curved pointed ends under a can in said row of cans and the curved ends curving away from each other, and a handle member having means on each end thereof detachably securing the ends of said handle member to the apertured ends of said can openers.

3. In combination, a box for canned goods, a plurality of rows of cans in said box substantially filling said box, the sides of the cans in a row being adjacent to one wall of said box, said one Wall having a pair of spaced apertures therein, said apertures being spaced from each other in the direction of said row of cans a distance equal to a plurality of can diameters, said apertures being opposite points in said row of cans between two cans, a pair of substantially flat punch type can openers each having one end thereof pointed and curved out of the plane of the can opener and having the other end bent out of and then back toward the plane of the can opener, said bent other end having an aperture therein, said can openers extending through said apertures in said wall of said box and between two cans with the curved pointed ends under a can in said row of cans and the curved ends curving away from each other, and a handle member having means on each end thereof detachably securing the ends of said handle member to the apertured ends of said can openers.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3 in which said handle member comprises a cord having the ends thereof extending through the apertures in said can openers, the ends of said cord being knotted to prevent the ends of the cord from passing through the apertures, and

a handgrip member on said cord.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 3 in which said handle member is a fiat strip of flexible material having a head at each end of a size to pass through said apertures when said flexible strip is in one position and to be prevented from passing through said apertures when said flexible strip is in another position, and connecting parts between said heads and said flat strip of a size to pass through said apertures when said flexible strip is in any position, whereby when said flexible strip is held in said one position, said heads can be inserted through said apertures and when said strip is turned to another position, said heads cannot be withdrawn through said apertures,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,337,518 Kelly Apr. 20, 1920 1,908,926 Severance May 16, 1933 1,938,158 Steele Dec. 5, 1933 1,996,550 Sampson et a1 Apr. 2, 1935 2,315,015 Rue Mar. 30, 1943 2,503,005 Speaker Apr. 4, 1950 

